Wednesday, September 26, 2012

When Does Curvy Stop Being Cool?

The other day, I saw this picture of Lady Gaga 'revealing her new curvy figure.' According to her, she's gained 25 pounds. How did she get such good press? Usually, when a famous person gains weight, the headlines read something like, 'So and So Packs On the Pounds,' or 'So and So Caught Hogging Out at Burger King.'

Here's the random question that popped into my mind when I read the headline: how much weight would Gaga have to gain before she would no longer be viewed as just 'curvy?' Another twenty five pounds? Fifty pounds? One hundred pounds? At some point would her fans stop seeing her as a role model?

6 comments:

Hey Josephine. This post has me very uncomfortable, and kinda sad. I don't think 'cool' is a weight-oriented thing at all. And good for the press that there isn't such negative remarks about her re: this topic. Feel free to delete this, but I had to say something.

I didn't read Josephine's post as saying that she herself considers being "cool" and curvy to be mutually exclusive; rather, I thought she was wryly commenting on the media's tendency to be hyper-critical about celebrities' weight.

Hi Carol, no apologies necessary - thanks for having the courage to say what you really feel. The topic of bodies and fat and acceptance and coolness tweak everyone, me included. I have been more fat and less fat many times in my life, and rarely has my size been attached to my happiness, if I'm honest. And my life is full of beautiful, brilliant and extremely cool women of all sizes. I am interested, though, to see just how long the media will be gracious to Lady Gaga if she continues to gain weight. My guess is the 'curviness' that is now being admired has a shelf life...exactly what that is remains to be seen.

Hi Sidney and welcome! Thanks for your comment, and you're exactly right about what I wanted to say. The media is tricky, and different with different celebrities, which is part of what's so interesting. Gaga has long marketed herself as one who promotes uniqueness, so her approach to her own weight gain is refreshing.